The overworking of children is a popular stereotype of Victorian schooling. The familiar imagery of nineteenth-century education draws heavily on the Dickensian model of the brutal school, drawn from "Nicholas Nickelby"'s Dotheboys Hall and Gradgrind's school from "Hard Times". Though caricatures, Dickens's images of schools represented…

This paper is a commentary of the special series on involving fathers in psychological services for children. The following themes are addressed: the effects of fathers on child development; benefits of father involvement in child psychology services; obstacles to father involvement; engaging fathers; specific interventions for fathers; and…

This article reports the findings of a statewide study evaluating the body weights of nearly all public school students in Arkansas. Researchers in Arkansas analyzed "body-mass index" data for more than 345,000 students at all grade levels in 93 percent of the state's public schools during the 2003-04 school year. Based on the data, the…

This article describes how The Children's Home of Pittsburgh provides unique, specialized services for infants, children, and their families and seeks to improve not only the range of services available to these special patients, but also the way in which those services are provided. Their innovative healthcare programs have been developed in…

Given the increase in the numbers of children who are at risk for, or who have been diagnosed with, diabetes, school personnel must work as a team to effectively manage and support those children in school-based settings. Understanding the diabetic condition, developing an individualized healthcare plan that addresses the medical and academic…

The introduction of a NEW physical education (PE) program at Ancaster Senior Public School had, at its root, the desire to make physical activity an inclusive domain for both athletic students and those not so inclined. With the growing concerns over the rapid and consistent rise in childhood obesity rates it was evident that the current model of…

A survey of school nurses was conducted in New York State elementary schools to assess asthma and asthma management in students. The survey contained questions about asthma morbidity, management and education, obstacles to management, and school indoor air quality. The reported prevalence of asthma among students was 8.5%. Of the students with…

The majority of individuals who will become "smokers" begin smoking during their teenage years. Schools are optimal settings for relaying messages about health risks associated with smoking and for implementing smoking prevention programs. This article presents successful components of smoking prevention programs, describes the evaluation process,…

The Medical Home series follows fictional parents Amita and Samir and their premature daughter, Anjali. In Part Two, Amita and Samir bring Anjali home from the hospital, contact the care coordinator who will be responsible for Anjali's care, and go to their first appointment with the pediatrician. Emphasis is placed on the manner in which the…

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Cohort Mother-Child files to explore the idea that child well-being can be improved by encouraging and enhancing parental marriage. I consider how children's living arrangements, the stability of parental marriages, and changes in living arrangements are related to…

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the oral health condition and treatment needs of a group of individuals with Down syndrome in Nigeria. Method: Participants were examined for oral hygiene status, dental caries, malocclusion, hypoplasia, missing teeth, crowding and treatment needs. Findings were compared with controls across age…

Obesity is an important worldwide public health problem. Obesogenic environments have been associated with increasing rates of overweight and obesity. The relationship between obesity and the built environment, along with its implications for health education are discussed in this article.

Objective: To report on the backgrounds and physical and emotional well-being of street children using two street shelters in Kyiv, Ukraine. This study is important because personal accounts of street children may highlight individual or family factors that are associated with vulnerability for and risk of poor mental health, and these could have…

In recent years, concerns have been raised about the adequacy of dental care for low-income children. Attention to this subject became more acute due to the widely publicized case of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old boy who died as a result of an untreated infected tooth that led to a fatal brain infection. Deamonte had health coverage through…

Although materials informing parents about children's mental health (CMH) problems can improve outcomes, we know relatively little about the design factors that might influence their utilization of available resources. We used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to model the information preferences of parents seeking mental health services for 6…